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OTTAWA - The Senators will take 29 players when they leave Tuesday for Toronto and back-to-back pre-season games against the Maple Leafs.

They are, however, leaving behind most of their bigger name players as they kick off an eight-game tuneup schedule leading into the 2010-11 campaign.

Not making the trip are the likes of Pascal Leclaire, Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Milan Michalek.

"It's been a long summer," coach Cory Clouston said after Monday's workouts at Scotiabank Place. "We’ve had a real good first three days of camp. Guys have worked extremely hard. Just looking forward to getting the games going."

The three goalies going to Toronto are Brian Elliott, Robin Lehner and Mike Brodeur. Clouston said two of them will play half a game while the other will play two halves.

Leclaire and Elliott, who will be the Senators two goalies to start the season barring injury, will each play at least two full games before the season starts.

Leclaire is looking forward to a bounce-back season after his 2009-10 was derailed by different injuries. He's also pleased to once again be working with Rick Wamsley, his goaltending coach when he first broke into the NHL.

"Its great to have him (here)," said Leclaire "He's really good at recognizing little things. For me, he was the guy in Columbus when I started, He kind of taught me the pro game, too.

"He knows when I play good, what I do good, and just if I stay in that kind of frame, I should be in good shape. It's little things, nothing major. Mostly just like repeating. Watch this, watch that so it becomes automatic. It’s a really good asset to have.”

As for his battle with Elliott for the No. 1 job, Leclaire said: "We're good buddies. We both want to play and we'll keep pushing each other."